The matter went back to last year’s ditch-digging.
Last year’s snowfall hadn’t been as heavy as this year’s, so not many people had been assigned to dig the ditches. As it happened, Er Laizi and San Pangzi had been assigned to dig the section at the foot of the mountain.
On the day before the two disappeared, the people digging the ditch with them remembered hearing the two arguing. But as for what the argument was about, no one knew. After all, these two were petty troublemakers that everyone wanted to avoid.
All anyone knew was that after that day, neither of them had been seen for a very long time.
Looking at it now, if these bones really did belong to Er Laizi, then San Pangzi was a major suspect.
“Brigade Captain Wu, do these two have any relatives in the village?” Captain Chen asked.
“Er Laizi has an aunt, but she married into the Yangjia Commune. As for San Pangzi, his family fled here during the war to escape the fighting. I’ve never heard of them having any relatives around here,” Wu Shengli replied after thinking for a moment.
Just as Captain Chen felt he had asked enough questions and was preparing to pack up and leave, Lin Pandi, her eyes full of malice, looked at Widow Li, who was looking guilty, and loudly said, “Leader, I have something to report. Last year, I saw Er Laizi messing around with Widow Li at the foot of the mountain. I even told her husband about it.”
Widow Li immediately retorted, “Pah! You’re talking nonsense, you old woman. Don’t spew your filth everywhere. My husband is dead—don’t drag him into this.”
“Pah! You shameless hussy. Don’t think I don’t know about your dirty dealings with Er Laizi. You’re a cursed woman. You killed Tiedan, and now you’ve killed your lover Er Laizi. I’m not the only one who knows—lots of people saw you two,” Lin Pandi said confidently.
Captain Chen looked toward the brigade captain. Wu Shengli looked embarrassed and could only say, “Captain Chen, these are just village gossip. There’s no real evidence.”
The experienced Captain Chen had already noticed that Widow Li was acting strange when Lin Pandi first came forward to accuse her. She definitely knew something. So he immediately had one of his officers grab Widow Li, who had been trying to run away, and barked, “If you haven’t done anything wrong, why are you running?”
Widow Li was trembling with fear.
The torment of keeping this secret ever since the bones had been unearthed had become too much for her to bear. She fell to her knees with a thud and burst into loud sobs.
The crowd of onlookers stirred restlessly. From the look of things, it was all but certain that she was involved.
Seeing that the case had taken a turn, Captain Chen felt more confident. He continued, “Do you want to talk here, or do I need to take you back to the station?”
The mention of going back to the station frightened Widow Li so much that she stopped crying.
She finally spoke, her voice trembling. “I… I just know that last year, my husband went up the mountain to gather firewood, and somehow, he fell and died. That day, I knew that he had heard what Lin Pandi said and went to find Er Laizi. Then they said he fell. I suspected that Er Laizi killed him. I was too scared to say anything. But I really don’t know what happened between Er Laizi and San Pangzi.”
With that, she began kowtowing and begging Captain Chen to let her go.
The villagers understood everything now. This woman was truly evil.
Tiedan’s cousin pointed at Widow Li and cursed, “You evil woman! You killed our Tiedan and still kept his house. Someone like you should be paraded around and made to live in a cowshed!”
Aunt Dazhu also joined in, righteous indignation on her face. “You woman—carrying on with other men! Who would have thought? And you killed a good, honest man like Tiedan too!”
Everyone began pointing and cursing at her.
Li Gong watched the scene unfold and said to Captain Chen with concern, “Captain Chen, it doesn’t look like we’re going to get any more leads today. Why don’t you take this woman back to the station for questioning? I’ll stay here and talk to the villagers. Once you’ve finished your investigation, give me a report on the details.”
Captain Chen had been thinking the same thing. He nodded, assigned his subordinates to bag the remains, and left with Widow Li.
The villagers watched Widow Li being taken away, buzzing with discussion.
Lin Pandi was still excitedly boasting about what she had seen back then. Who knew how much of it was true and how much was exaggerated? She described even the most intimate details with great relish—anyone listening would have thought she had crawled under the couple’s bed to eavesdrop.
Wu Jun hadn’t expected something like this to happen in his own village. He sighed deeply at the thought. Seeing that Li Gong hadn’t gone back with the public security officers, he walked over and asked, puzzled, “Why are you still here? Aren’t you going back to the county?”
“I’m staying to discuss something with the brigade captain,” Li Gong said. He then asked the brigade captain to take him to the brigade office.
Li Gong smiled and nodded.